All New Jersey communities have a tool which can dramatically
enhance the capabilities of their emergency management
programs. It involves key municipal officials and community
leaders who are experts in their fields. It relies on
individuals who know and understand the needs of the
community, municipal personnel who have contributed
to the emergency management plan and persons who practice
that plan regularly. This group is in touch with its
constituencies and knows just what resource to apply
to any given emergency situation.

It’s the Local Emergency Planning Committee -
the LEPC. Emphasis on local.

When the 1986 Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization
Act (SARA) required that governmental jurisdictions
form LEPC’s to develop emergency plans to respond
to chemical emergencies, New Jersey
honored the “home rule” tradition and required
that every municipal and county form an LEPC.

Legally mandated community-based emergency planning
was not a new concept. The NJ Civilian Defense and Disaster
Control Act (N.J.S.A. App. A:9_33) required every municipality
and county to “... create a local emergency management
council” and prepare “...written emergency
operations plans.” The emergency management council
was dedicated to all-hazard planning which already
included hazardous materials.

The LEPC and the municipal Emergency Management Council
integrated responsibilities under Executive Order 161,
signed by Governor Thomas Kean on February 12, 1987.
The Order clarified that SARA Title III emergency planning
requirements “...would be accomplished in a manner
consistent with the provisions of NJSA A:9_33.”
The means that in policy and in practice, members
of the LEPC and the emergency management council were
representing the same agencies; and emergency management
councils became known as “LEPC’s.”
LEPC’s expanded their hazardous materials planning
mission to include natural, technological and civil
disasters – the “all-hazard” approach
to emergency planning.

The LEPC is a 15-member emergency planning committee
which should include representation from the following
stakeholder groups and organizations:

Representatives of facilities subject to the emergency
planning and Community Right-to-Know requirements
(if one is located in the municipality)

Local Business leaders

The elected official’s role on
the LEPC is

To appoint LEPC members (with input from the emergency
management coordinator), and

To give support and credibility to the emergency planning
process. This helps motivate the LEPC to work as a
team, and enhances achievement of its emergency management
mission – to provide information and resource
support to the emergency planning process.

One of the most difficult tasks of running an LEPC is
“full plate syndrome” – committee
members who lack time to attend quarterly meetings,
participate in exercises, assess hazards and review
plans. Executive and financial support of the LEPC mission
is critical, especially in the post-September 11th emergency
management era, when high-stakes disasters place local
responders on the front lines of dangerous and complex
situations such as terrorism, school shootings, and
flash flooding in highly populated metropolitan areas.

The US Environmental Protection Agency offers the philosophy
behind LEPC’s “... members represent the
community and they should be familiar with factors that
affect public safety, the environment, and the economy
of the community. That expertise will be essential as
the LEPC develops a plan tailored to the needs of its
planning district.”

Knowledge of the municipality – its residents,
land use, hazards, geography, infrastructure, economics,
culture and critical facilities – is also essential
for disaster recovery. After an incident occurs, local
officials collect disaster intelligence – information
concerning death, injuries, damage assessments, roads,
utilities, housing conditions, etc. The more credible
and more accurate the intelligence, the better case
that can be made for a request for disaster recovery
assistance. If a Presidential disaster declaration is
received, FEMA will look to local counterparts to help
them tour affected areas and begin the process for damage
claims.

One of the less-emphasized responsibilities of the LEPC
has been is its role as a focal point for community
members regarding discussions about hazards, emergency
planning, and the health and environmental risks of
disasters. Citizens should expect the LEPC to be able
reply to questions about what hazards the community
faces and address concerns about how prepared the community
is to respond to them.

An NJOEM post-September 11th survey of New Jersey’s
municipal emergency management agencies revealed that
92% describe their LEPC’s as “active.”
Cranford Township Police Chief/Emergency Management
Coordinator Harry Wilde takes it a step further - “...our
LEPC is constantly evolving... a resource which should
be prioritized and targeted where needed...heavily influenced
by current events.”

Chief Wilde chairs a 20+ member LEPC, assigning members
into subcommittees which meet on an as-needed basis.
Over his 10-year term, he’s relied on Mayors to
play an active role in the process and hasn’t
been disappointed. “Our Mayor has always chosen
to be active in the LEPC process – particularly
when communicating hazard information to residents.
When a crises hits, this sends an important message
about where the town is at and where it’s going.”

Cranford’s also forged an important partnership
with their local access television station which serves
6 communities and 80,000 residents. They can “go
live” with public information from the 9-1-1 center
at the flip of a switch. “Different mayors have
different communication styles, but when the chief elected
official speaks directly to community members, they
pay attention to what’s going on.”
When the stakes are high Wilde expands the LEPC team
to meet the need, taking disaster history and expertise
of the LEPC member into account. “In a flood event,”
he explains, “we know who gets notified and who
to bring in when the telemetry reaches certain stages.”

Appointing the Cranford Superintendent of Schools as
an LEPC member has also increased the quality of decisions
about school crises issues. Wilde explains that, “During
the World Trade Center incident many communities closed
schools early, but the Superintendent and I jointly
agreed that it would be a lot safer for kids if we kept
schools open. We didn’t want to create a situation
with a lot of latchkey kids, especially in light of
what was being broadcast on television. If the Superintendent
had unilaterally made a decision about an unplanned
school closing, it could have caused the town a lot
of problems.”

Wilde’s also enthusiastic about an upcoming school
project with the FirstData corporation, “Operation
Safe and Secure.” This initiative will help middle
school students develop confidence in their school’s
own safety systems, heighten security awareness, lessen
anxiety and provide cursory skills in safety and risk
management. The students will experience hands-on learning
about structural, environmental, and social techniques
to mitigate dangers.

“An
LEPC should work the Mayor and Emergency Management
Coordinator to constantly examine contemporary problems,
assess their impact on the community and use time-tested
methods - emergency planning, training, and exercising
– to reduce risk to community members,”
Wilde said.

LEPC members’ contributions are essential to an
effective emergency management program. If a municipality
views LEPC formation as a paperwork exercise, then it
will become just an administrative burden having no
value to the community. When given appropriate executive
and financial support, the LEPC enables a municipality
to respond as a coordinated, effective unit ready to
address residents’ needs when disaster strikes.

For more information on LEPC’s contact NJOEM
Community Relations at 609-538-6065,crnjoem@gw.njsp.org.

Superfund
Amendments and Reauthorization Act - P.L. 99-400
- Requires chemical handling facilities to prepare annual
chemical inventories and maintain emergency response
plans. It also requires an emergency planning structure
be instituted for the state and local emergency planning
committees.

SIDEBAR

ADDITIONAL
WEB RESOURCES

NJOEM
Exercise Pass-Through Grant - This program
is designed to award funding to county and municipal
LEPC’s to develop and conduct
exercise scenarios which accurately measure planning
and response capabilities to one or more of the threats
identified in the municipality’s emergency operations
plan. It is a pass-through program from the Federal
Emergency Management Agency which has been active for
several years. As of this writing, the NJOEM is awaiting
information on the status of the program in the FY2003
federal budget. Information on this grant will be posted
on the NJOEM
website as soon as it becomes available.

Photo #1: “ Executive and financial support
of the LEPC mission is critical, especially in the post-September
11th emergency management era, when high-stakes disasters
place local responders on the front lines of dangerous
and complex situations such as terrorism, school shootings,
and flash flooding in highly populated metropolitan
areas.”

Photo #2 - Cranford School Crises Response Exercise.
An LEPC should work the Mayor and Emergency Management
Coordinator to constantly examine contemporary problems,
assess their impact on the community and use time-tested
methods - emergency planning, training, and exercising
– to reduce risk to community members.